Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Dark City Blue

4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 · rating details · 17 ratings · 10 reviews

If there’s one thing worse than a crooked cop on your heels then it’s a whole unit of them.

A fistful of people are murdered, fifteen million dollars is stolen and detective Tom Bishop is stuck in the middle. When he hits the street, every clue points in the same direction – his colleagues in a police department demoralised by cutbacks and scandals. Hunted, alone and with n...more

ebook, 224 pages

Published November 1st 2012 by Momentum

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 66)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Oct 31, 2012 Josh rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, oznoir, arc, kindle, australia, read_2012

‘Justice’ is more an idea than concept or purpose for policing. It’s a universal term coined to facilitate the dispensing of action through lawful conduct on those who are in breach of maintaining public order. DARK CITY BLUE squashes the safety blanket-like public and policing perception by using this as a means of defining a central corrupt body of lawmakers and turning them into first class criminals. Protagonist, Bishop, a hard-man who’s shed more blood than tears is an honest cop in a world...more ‘Justice’ is more an idea than concept or purpose for policing. It’s a universal term coined to facilitate the dispensing of action through lawful conduct on those who are in breach of maintaining public order. DARK CITY BLUE squashes the safety blanket-like public and policing perception by using this as a means of defining a central corrupt body of lawmakers and turning them into first class criminals. Protagonist, Bishop, a hard-man who’s shed more blood than tears is an honest cop in a world where disloyalty is rewarded. Not the type to turn a blind eye, he embarks on a one man mission to bring down a deeply entrenched seed of criminal activity right in the backyard of the boys in the blue.

Preston wastes no time in thrusting the reader face first into the action. From the opening scene Bishop is confronted with the underage sex trade, shotguns, and dead bodies. The high octane, noir on no-doze feel to DARK CITY BLUE doesn’t let up with Bishop piecing the broken bits of a blood encrusted puzzle one shard at a time over the course of a number of violent encounters with the law and lawless alike.

Bishop’s motive is fuelled by rage, derived through the clouded eyes of a dying, abused child, in Chloe. A captive against her will serving as no more than a means to fatten the pockets of the elusive entity known as ‘Justice’. As the body bag is zipped up, darkening the youthful body within, so does Bishops mood and determination. Throughout the course of the novel, moments exist where Bishop could walk, turn to IA, or act alone as a vigilante – luckily for the reader; he decides to go at it alone. Following the deathly whispers of ‘Justice’, Bishop learns of police involvement in a heist worth 15mil and other heinous crimes that threaten to tear apart the already thin fabric that holds the police department together.

Fellow officers, judges, commanders, criminals, snitches, undercover agents, and best friends all come scrutiny as Bishop kicks tail and takes names on the path to the truth. DARK CITY BLUE is delivered in a frenetic pace, while this had the potential to overshadow the novels protagonist, Preston still manages to establish a deep and painful back-story amongst the bullets and blood. It’s easy to see how Bishop can evolve into a serious series character. One can’t help but think the complexity of his character unearthed in DARK CITY BLUE is but the tip of the iceberg.

This is one shot of oz noir adrenaline not to be missed - 4 stars.
(less)

7 likes · like · see review

Nov 19, 2012 Sean the Bookonaut rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dark City Blue is a fast paced crime thriller published by Momentum, the digital offspring of PanMacmillan.

What can I say about Dark City Blue that others haven’t said already?

"It’s the cage fighting equivalent of a police procedural: violent, gaudy, and packing heat.” – Trent Jamieson, author of the Death Works trilogy

” … noir on No-Doz … ” – Fair Dinkum Crime

To tell you the truth it was Trent Jamieson’s quote that hooked me. I trust his taste and Dark City Blue didn’t disappoint. The idea – ma...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 10, 2012 Greg Barron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tom Bishop grew up in the cab of a truck, on the run with his dad, who was wanted by the cops for killing his wife, Tom’s mother, “with the butt of a longneck.” Tom ended up in an orphanage, and never knew when to stop throwing punches. Cop, Patrick Wilson, who had lost his own son from leukaemia, adopted him, and guided young Tom into the police force.

Dark City Blue is the story of Bishop’s one man war against a corrupt gang of major crime squad boys, a paedophile/snuff ring headed up by someon...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 04, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian, crime, ebook

Sometimes you just have to start off a book review with a bunch of warnings - so let's get the public service announcements out of the road now. Don't read DARK CITY BLUE if:

a) you're going to need sleep in the immediate future;
b) you're about to cough up the annual Christmas Policeman's Fund donation;
c) your tolerance for violence is more on the Midsummer end of the scale; or
d) you've got an allergy to adrenaline.

Ignore the warnings if you're looking for something that is action-packed, violent...more Sometimes you just have to start off a book review with a bunch of warnings - so let's get the public service announcements out of the road now. Don't read DARK CITY BLUE if:

a) you're going to need sleep in the immediate future;
b) you're about to cough up the annual Christmas Policeman's Fund donation;
c) your tolerance for violence is more on the Midsummer end of the scale; or
d) you've got an allergy to adrenaline.

Ignore the warnings if you're looking for something that is action-packed, violent, sparse, and tense with a serious Australian sensibility. You're most definitely in the right territory.

The positives, are exactly the things right up the alley out the back of our place (okay so it's a gravel track but any analogy in a tight spot...). For a start, Preston is one of those authors who leave you pondering their relationship with their central character. Tom Bishop is a good-old fashioned honest cop, with no self-preservation instincts whatsoever. And apparently no pain receptors in his body and a stubbornly one-track mind. There's nothing particularly surprising about a hardboiled, noir sort of a cop that doesn't play nice with his superiors, and has a fractious relationship with his colleagues. What is interesting here is the level of corruption that Bishop starts kicking the covers from. It's pretty extreme - from armed robbery and sexual slavery to good old fashioned standover and more than a bit of general menacing and lurking. The idea that there is a high ranking officer controlling the network of corruption is very real, how high up this officer goes intriguing and what is really most of the mystery from the get go.

It's actually quite hard to tell who is on which side, and for how long for most of the book, and that, and the sheer lunacy of the action means that everything clips along at a tremendous pace. But it's not all hard, mad and bad. Bishop's tentative building of a relationship with his teenage daughter, until recently completely estranged from him, is a nice touch, giving the hard man a bit of a gooey core. It's also that relationship that provides some real moments of hope and sadness. There's also something disconcerting about aspects of the resolution that actually say quite a bit about motivation and why good people do bad things. I actually found that, in the middle of all of the mayhem, quite a thought provoker.

Whilst there is something vaguely cinematic about the action scenes in the book, it's not overdone or jarring, and DARK CITY BLUE mercifully doesn't read like a film script bashed into a book. In fact it reads like a hell of an action-packed, hard boiled, mean streets story, with a believable protagonist, tight and realistic dialogue and a plot that has a sobering credibility to it.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Nov 15, 2012 Raven rated it 4 of 5 stars

A gripping slice of Aussie noir from debut author Luke Preston, that will have you hooked from the first page. Violent and action-packed, the pace is as swift as the writing is sparse, in a true homage to the hardboiled crime tradition, and the short snappy chapters carry you quickly through this tale of police corruption, paedophiles, and armed robbery. Tom Bishop, our erstwhile hero, is a cop on a mission seeking to expose a very dark conspiracy involving his fellow police officers who are as...more A gripping slice of Aussie noir from debut author Luke Preston, that will have you hooked from the first page. Violent and action-packed, the pace is as swift as the writing is sparse, in a true homage to the hardboiled crime tradition, and the short snappy chapters carry you quickly through this tale of police corruption, paedophiles, and armed robbery. Tom Bishop, our erstwhile hero, is a cop on a mission seeking to expose a very dark conspiracy involving his fellow police officers who are as a bent as a boomerang and ever so nasty with it. Bishop is an old school cop, who has little time for official procedures and a very flexible attitude to extigent circumstances, regularly bowling in where others fear to tread and dispensing with bad guys left, right and centre. He gets the job done and is largely left to his own devices by his senior officers until he starts treading on the wrong toes, as he starts to uncover and investigate the pernicious actions of a corrupt group of police colleagues, or ‘Justice’, as they are known, leading to some very hairy moments for Bishop. Shot at, beaten, locked up and generally physically abused, Bishop, and those closest to him, cannot escape the wrath of ‘Justice’ and it soon becomes clear that there are few people that Bishop can trust, giving rise to a suspicion of everybody a very bloody trail of bodies along the way.

This book runs on pure adrenaline as the pacing is exceptionally fast, and I would definitely concur with other reviewers that once you’re hooked in, it is tremendously difficult to put down. The action sequences are deftly realised and genuinely edge of the seat, as very much in the manner of cinema action thrillers, there is a brilliant sense of each bloody shoot-out being maybe one too far for our cop hero and will he really make it to the end of the book? Aha..that would be telling! In terms of characterisation, Bishop is one of those guys that has you rooting for him from the start, having a good moral compass despite his own tough upbringing. He experiences a genuine sense of wounded pride that his fellow officers can act in such a despicable manner, fethering their own nests, and displaying dishonour to the credo of protect and serve. There is a nicely emotive side story involving him and his newly discovered teenage daughter, Alice, which also impacts on his single minded determination to avenge the death of another teenage girl, forced into sexual slavery. He’s a genuine tough guy with a slightly melty centre, and definitely not a man to be trifled with as many find out to their cost throughout the course of the book.

So to sum up, a nifty little debut with a good central storyline, a natty use of dialogue, an engaging protagonist and more than enough action to keep those pages a-turning. Would thoroughly recommend this blood and bullets debut if you think you’re hard enough to handle it…

(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 15, 2013 L.E. Truscott rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you like characters who never sleep and only ever pass out to get some rest, then this is the book for you.

This is a fast-paced story and the body count starts almost immediately and doesn't let up right until the very end. It has a very gritty feel and it is set in a bleak, dystopian version of Melbourne, Australia that as someone who lives there I don't recognise, thank goodness.

The plot is a little cliched; veteran, weary, jaded cop stumbles across police corruption bringing himself, his f...more

like · see review

Dec 20, 2012 Leo Stableford rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd never really considered the possibility of there being a sub-genre called "hard boiled oz noir" before cracking open Dark City Blue. The first thing to note about this is that the Australian patois definitely delivers a unique wrinkle to a powerful, bloody, violent thriller.

Let's be clear about this, there is something joyously adolescent about the violence, the swearing, the cranked up adrenaline-soaked machismo of Dark City Blue. I think the jazzy mood title does little to convey the swagg...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 09, 2013 Speesh rated it 4 of 5 stars

So, two days in the company of policeman Detective Tom Bishop. Not the most pleasant of experiences for him - but a fast-paced, tense, amoral, dark and gritty, ultimately thrilling roller-coaster ride for us.

The story is based in and around Bishop's Police Station in...well, we aren't told, as far as I can see. It's a violent, no-name city that could be many places (just hope it isn't near you or me). Perhaps Luke Preston deliberately doesn't say where it IS set, so that we can think 'this could...more So, two days in the company of policeman Detective Tom Bishop. Not the most pleasant of experiences for him - but a fast-paced, tense, amoral, dark and gritty, ultimately thrilling roller-coaster ride for us.

The story is based in and around Bishop's Police Station in...well, we aren't told, as far as I can see. It's a violent, no-name city that could be many places (just hope it isn't near you or me). Perhaps Luke Preston deliberately doesn't say where it IS set, so that we can think 'this could be near me!' If he named the city, we could easier hold it at arm's length by telling ourselves 'Sheesh! They've got it bad there, thank goodness it isn't near me!' But by not defining it, it COULD be near you or me. Helps the story hit home.

Tom Bishop is a cop not just on the edge - but over it and half way down the other side looking up. He is a tough as nails, old school cop on the inside. A tough as nails, shoot first and 'Questions? The fuck are they?' afterwards, on the outside. And he's the good guy. Indeed, often the only way to tell the difference between him and the criminals he's mixed up with, is the Police badge he's carrying. And even then you're not sure.

After a violent robbery goes down, that he's just too late on the scene to prevent, it becomes clear that not just has 15 million Dollars gone missing, but that the perpetrators are more than likely Policeman. His colleagues. He knows them. But perhaps more worryingly; they know he knows. What to do? Join them? Try and beat them? Joining them would be the easy way out. But luckily for us, that's not Bishop's style.

As the story develops, friends turn to enemies and in the pursuit of the truth - and something that might resemble justice - a whole lot of moral lines get blurred almost to invisibility. Nothing matters to Bishop but stopping the corrupt Police officers. From getting to the evidence and the witnesses of course. But mostly from stopping them getting to him! His colleagues have been so corrupt, so long, that he, Bishop, seems like the one in the wrong.

Dark City Blue is a (not so) pretty, tough, no-nonsense kind of a story. About a tough, no-nonsense kind of a character. So the writing style mirrors this. Clipped, hard and effective. Never uses three words where two will have more punch.

"She looked at the crumpled bill as if it had just taken a shit on the rug. 'You pigs are all the same.'"

What's not to like? In the Acknowledgements - you do read Acknowledgements, don't you? - I thought it was perhaps confirmation of this mirroring, that Luke Preston writes thanks to "Gareth Beal: My editor, who killed all the words that didn't matter." Every word matters here, there's no room for passengers, word-wise. It is a style that perhaps sometimes needs getting accustomed to. But when you've read a few pages, you get a lot out of it. And I felt that as the novel progresses and we learn more about Bishop and his life, the story and prose became a little warmer, more nuanced. Again, just like the character of Bishop develops. Both still retaining all the original shoot-to-kill attitude of course. I find it is a style where you - or your own mind and powers of association - do almost as much work as the author does in the writing.

It is a provocative way of telling the/a story, but then it is a provocative story. Nihilistic even. Like Bishop. In many ways the book reminded me of another of my favourite authors; Mark Timlin. And that's a (very) good thing. His 'Nick Sharman' stories also explore the life and hard times of a(n ex-) Policeman. One who'd not exactly seen better times, but certainly times better than the, erm... 'problematical' ones the stories had him set in.

Like I say, despite the tale being told like it's got a gun to its head, I do detect a little compassion hidden under all Bishop's scar tissue. Compassion might be a weakness in his world, but he does almost develop a conscience, of sorts. Perhaps, beneath all the grime and under all the cuts and scars, bullets and bruises, there does lurk an idealistic policeman. Is this why he chooses to keep going? Why he chooses not to take the money and the easy - less painful - way out. Even if that is the hard choice. If nothing else, Dark City Blue is about Bishop's choices. Between doing right by your colleagues, and doing right in the 'wrong' way. Choosing how far to go wrong, to do the right thing. I think ultimately, the key to Bishop's character, why he chooses to do what he does, might lie with his daughter. Them finding each other and Bishop maybe wanting to prove to her he wasn't such a bad father-figure to have found after all.

Actually, I read Dark City Blue on my iPhone Kindle app and I did think that at the end of this book there should perhaps be a sign 'now wash your hands.' I cleaned the screen of my iPhone, just in case.

It is an unsettling story, if reality is really like this. But compulsive because of it. And a lot of fun.(less)

like · see review

Mar 30, 2013 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Hammet, Fans of Stark

Recommended to Chris by: Luke Preston

Shelves: hard-crime, mystery

I finished this book within 24 hours of downloading it. It's fast-paced, tightly written and extremely well-written book.

Preston has said on his website and in his blog that he's a fan of both Hammet and Stark, and his hero reminded me of a combination of the Continental Op and Parker. I don't know if it's because of the novel blurb or the actual character in the book, but I would totally cast Lee Marvin as Bishop in a movie version of this thing. Though I think Gene Hackman could play the part...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 24, 2013 Balthazar Lawson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book starts with action and it doesn't stop. It's go, go, go from cover to cover, or in the modern age of ebooks, from first electron to the last electron. I enjoyed that.

But the editing of this edition of the book leaves a lot to be desired, with missing words that changed the whole context of some sentences. The time line is very murky as the story does start in the present and jumps back, then jumps back to the present. This all gets confusing at times. Or that may be another case of bad...more

like · see review

Apr 18, 2013 Jon Underwood rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 05, 2013 Amanda Bridgeman is currently reading it

Apr 16, 2013 Andrew Richardson is currently reading it

Mar 13, 2013 Chris Strange marked it as to-read

Mar 11, 2013 Brandon Nagel marked it as to-read

Mar 05, 2013 Mark Love is currently reading it

Feb 26, 2013 Anthony James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Feb 14, 2013 Megakrega marked it as to-read

Jan 24, 2013 Matthias marked it as to-read

Jan 22, 2013 Ismael Schonhorst marked it as to-read

Jan 18, 2013 Jody Krug-graham marked it as to-read

Jan 17, 2013 Simon Mcdonald is currently reading it

Jan 14, 2013 Danfunk marked it as to-read

Jan 13, 2013 Anthony marked it as to-read

Jan 07, 2013 Nick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jan 04, 2013 Patrick marked it as to-read

Jan 03, 2013 Thomas marked it as to-read

Jan 03, 2013 nicoll lu marked it as to-read

Jan 02, 2013 Tim Countryman marked it as to-read

Jan 01, 2013 Kme_17 marked it as to-read

« previous 1 2 3 next »

See top shelves...

Books by Luke Preston

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Dark City Blue

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Dark City Blue
avg rating	preview: Dark City Blue Goodreads rating: 4.18 (17 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16108430-dark-city-blue?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351162022l/16108430.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16108430-dark-city-blue?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Dark City Blue by Luke Preston[/url]

Dark City Blue

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)

Genres

Books by Luke Preston

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Dark City Blue

Dark City Blue

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (1)

Genres

Books by Luke Preston

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Dark City Blue

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)